Chicago Bears cut former All-Pro from Alabama
In his first three NFL seasons, safety Eddie Jackson intercepted 10 passes, recovered five fumbles and scored five touchdowns. He was a first-team All-Pro in his second season and repeated as a Pro Bowler in his third.
With a season remaining on Jackson’s four-year rookie contract, the Chicago Bears signed the former Alabama standout to a $58.4 million extension designed to keep him with the team through the 2024 season
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But on Thursday, the Bears released Jackson with one year remaining on that deal for a salary-cap savings of $12.56 million in 2024.
The transaction makes Jackson an unrestricted free agent able to sign with any NFL team immediately.
After signing Jackson to the contract extension, Chicago switched his role in the secondary, using him primarily as a strong safety instead of at free safety. He didn’t intercept a pass in 2020 or 2021.
After drafting safety Jaquan Brisker in 2022, the Bears moved Jackson back to free safety, and he responded with four interceptions, even though he missed five games.
In 2023, Jackson again missed five games because of injuries and recorded a career-low 37 tackles while playing a career-low 645 defensive snaps. Jackson had averaged 70.3 tackles and 927.5 defensive snaps in his first six seasons after joining Chicago in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
The Bears also released offensive lineman Cody Whitehair on Thursday after he started 118 games since joining Chicago in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
